Changes We Go Through
by ChibiFrubaGirl
Summary: AU. Riku was the biggest dork in school. When he moves away for five years and comes back looking good how will his friends react? Namiku but it's not focusing on the love.
1. Chapter 1

Me: Hi, welcome to my second ever fan fic… I hope you all like it. I tried my best.

Riku: Yes, she worked very hard.

Me: See?

Riku: Can I go now? I said what you told me to…

Me: … --

Riku: Look, just give me my twenty bucks and I'll leave… Uh, hello?

Me: Grrr….

Riku: What the heck?

Me: You gave it away…

Riku: Wha? Oh! Oops… Well sorry about that… My bad, he he. So can I still have my twenty bucks?

Me: No.

Riku: (runs off crying)

Namine: (looks at me) I told you not to pay Riku to say that you'd worked hard.

Me: Bleah…

Disclaimer: I own nothing (no duh!). It's call _fan_fiction for a reason. Note the "_fan" _

"_What did you say?"_

_Five pairs of eyes turned to stare at the silver haired boy. Riku's green eyes blinked back at theirs through the tears that were welling up in them; no matter how hard he tried to subdue them._

_"I'm… I'm moving…"_

_Riku lowered his head and allowed the stream of tears to pour out of his emerald eyes. The five sets of eyes that had been transfixed on him too began to well up with the salty water. _

_"Can't… Can't you ask your parents to change their minds?" Sora squeaked out; he usually didn't act like this in front of his friend._

_"No… I already tried but… They said we're going to move anyway…" Riku choked out through his unremitting onslaught of sobs._

_ "Oh, Riku," whispered Kairi with that the group of six friends pulled together in a tight and fierce group hug; none of them caring that their clothing was getting stained by the tears of their fellows. _

_After several hours of hugging and crying Riku's parents came and dragged him into the car. Riku sat in the back seat with his older brother, Otaku, looking lost and unsure of what was going on. _

_Before the car pulled away Sora pushed his head through the half-opened window and said, "Bye, Riku."_

_Riku nodded and Sora gave him a watery smile before he pulled his chestnut haired head out the window. The car pulled away; taking the Ishida family with it. _

_The group of, now, five stood there as if at a lost for what to do. _

_Back in the car Riku was looking out the window, watching the city he'd grown up in flash before his eyes. His eyelids closed for a moment as he thought back on Sora's last words. _

_Riku opened his eyes again and said, "Bye."_

_"Hm? What?" Otaku turned to face his younger brother._

_"Oh, nothing," said Riku looking down at his seat._

_"Hey," said Otaku putting a comforting hand on Riku's small shoulder, "it'll be okay. Don't worry about it, man, you'll see. Moving's not that bad."_

_Riku looked up at his brother for a moment before responding._

_"Yeah…"_

It was lunch time at Odaiba School and Kairi, Selphie, Wakka, Sora and Tidus were eating lunch with their two friends Roxas and Namine.

Back in Elementary School the first five of the group had been what you'd call popular. Back then popularity was based only on your personality and few were judged based on their looks. But once the gang had entered junior high all that changed. The group had gone from being popular to "social-misfits" so fast you could have gone that long without blinking.

Then one day Namine and Roxas had a fight with their friends the "cool kids" in the middle of lunch. They were kicked out of that cliché needless to say. For a while the two blondes stood in the middle of the lunch room in a daze. Now that none of the other lesser people had to pretend to like them anymore and the likeable people were acquit of them, where would they sit?

Sora was the one with that answer. With his usual friendly smile he'd brought them over to his friends' table and soon the five became a seven. The "Lucky Seven", as they liked to call it.

Today the group was sitting at their table talking about the Winter Dance which would be coming up soon. Sora was nervous, back in elementary school he'd been tall for his age (back then no one had enough muscle to notice) but shortly after the beginning of junior high he'd just stopped growing. And pretty soon most of the girls in the grade had even passed him up. It didn't help, that in seventh grade Sora discovered he needed heavy prescription glasses. Now the thick rimmed devices perched on his nose magnified his eyes greatly so that he looked like his face had two large blue light bulbs on it.

Among the rest of the group Tidus had gotten braces and Wakka… Well most of the girls just thought Wakka was too weird. Kairi and Selphie were what you'd call average but considering who they hung out with it would be impossible for her to get a date. And after the incident in the lunch room Roxas and Namine would have no luck either.

"Well," said Wakka, "Sora, you and Kairi could go together."

Sora and Kairi's faces reddened and they both started stuttering.

"Oh come on," said Selphie, "you guys would be so cute together!"

Namine and Tidus nodded their heads fervently in the background making them all both resemble a duo of bobble heads.

Sora fell silent; obviously lost in his own brain. Then quite suddenly he banged his fists on the table and shouted:

"Oh My God! Now I remember!" The entire cafeteria turned to stare at Sora; whose face reddened slightly as he slowly sat back down. Once the lunch rooms attention was turned away six sets of eyes rounded on Sora.

"Dude, what the frick is wrong with you?" muttered Tidus.

"I just remembered something really important that my mom told me this morning…"

"Alright, which is?" Kairi prompted impatiently.

"Ummm… I don't remember," admitted Sora and several hands flew to their owners' foreheads in exasperation.

"Alright," said Roxas breathing heavily, "let's all just give Sora a moment to think and maybe… just maybe it'll come back to him."

Everybody nodded and the table fell silent. Sora's face remained blank for a moment, and then he looked pained, and then his face contorted and scrunched up in concentration until finally realization dawned on him and his eyes grew wide with excitement.

"What?" asked Wakka.

"Well," said Sora savoring his moment of triumph, "my mom just told me this morning…"

"And?"

"C'mon, before you forget again."

"While we're young please."

Sora took a deep breath and said, "Riku's coming back!"

Everyone at the table fell silent once again.

"Who's Riku?" asked Namine at once.

"Oh," said Kairi, "that's right you guys never met him. Well Riku's our old friend from childhood. We've known him since forever. But then one day his family moved."

"Riku?" asked Roxas, "What was his last name?"

"Ishida," said Selphie.

Roxas's eyes widened, "You mean the little kid that used to always get picked on? The one with the weird grey hair? Oh my God. I totally forgot about that little runt."

"Yup that's about right," said Wakka nodding, "he was such a dork. Huge glasses, braces, cowlicks, short, scrawny… He was a walking bully magnet. We used to have to stick up for him a lot."

"He moved in fifth grade," said Tidus sadly.

"But now he's coming home," announced Sora and everyone's faces brightened.

"When?" asked Namine; she was looking forward to meeting him.

"Um, tomorrow…"

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah… his mom only called my mom just last night," said Sora grinning sheepishly.

"I wonder what he'll be like now…" said Tidus voicing everyone's thoughts aloud.

"I bet he's gay," said Wakka grinning evilly.

"I bet you're right," said Tidus.

"Wonder if he's gotten rid of those God-awful braces yet…" muttered Kairi, "Or if he finally got fed up and dyed his hair a normal colour (ah ha British spelling)."

"You're all probably right," said Sora, "but I guess we won't know until tomorrow!"

The next day the group of seven met out side the library. It was a Saturday; a "perfect day for a welcome back party" as Kairi put it. Sora had gotten Riku's new address from his mother and together the group set out in search of Riku's new home.

It took them several hours (due to an "incident" Sora had with a very aggravated squirrel) but eventually they found the house. It was a two story house with stone covering the bottom five feet of the outer walls. On the wooden porch there was a swinging bench that swayed merrily in the wind.

A moving truck was parked outside and men in uniforms were hastily unpacking boxes. Four of the movers were struggling to carry a piano in.

"Piano?" questioned Roxas eyeing the heavy instrument.

"Yup," said Sora, "Riku was always a great piano player."

"Huh…"

When they reached the doorway they saw a very frantic looking Mrs. Ishida standing in the center of all the chaos.

"Oh Sora, Kairi!" she cried upon spotting the group, "Wakka, Tidus, Selphie!" though she was not a very large woman she somehow managed to get her arms around all seven teens squeezing them so hard they felt their ribs would crack. After being introduced to Namine and Roxas she nodded and said:

"Riku's currently testing out the shower… or at least that's how he put it… but you can go wait in his room. Second floor on your right."

The group headed upstairs and yes when they passed the bathroom they could hear running water inside.

When Sora stepped into Riku's room he was sure it was the wrong one.

The walls were navy blue and slanted so that the room's ceiling formed a triangle like shelter.

In one of the opened boxes they could see posters of various rock groups and movies.

"Um, is this the right room?" asked Wakka holding up one of the posters and staring at the picture on it with distaste.

"No it's not."

Everyone turned to look at Kairi who was stooped over one of the suit cases. Her back was turned to them.

"Why? What's in the suit case?" asked Tidus curiously. Everyone walked over to look.

"These can't be Riku's," said Wakka eyeing the clothing. All of it was black and the tee shirts were all sporting catchy disses, pictures or bands and movies. There were also many belts and many gloves.

"Take a look at this," said Selphie from across the room; she was inspecting the three pairs of shoes resting by the door, "they're huge."

"No way this is Riku's room," said Tidus staring at the walls, "I mean look at these pants," He unfolded a pair to show the others how long they were.

"They're bigger than mine," said Wakka in awe.

"Um, guys?" Tidus was looking at Riku's bookshelf which contained the complete series of _Make out Paradise _ (Go Kakashi!)

"Well," said Selphie, "at least he's been keeping up with his reading…"

"They can't be Riku's, there's no way he grew that much. Or that he'd like any of this stuff," added Sora huffily.

"Yeah," said Kairi, "Mrs. Ishida must have shown us the wrong room. This has to be Otaku's."

"Actually," came a very masculine sounding voice from the doorway, "Otaku is at college. This is my room."


	2. Chapter 2: Not Quite the Same

Me: Okay… Well I'm back… Short notice too I know… Anyway I'm sorry the first chapter was SO corny… I was having a hard time getting started…

It gets better from here.

Chapter Two

"Actually," came a very masculine sounding voice from the doorway, "Otaku is at college. This is my room."

Everybody spun around to face the dripping wet figure standing in the door way; Selphie's mouth began salivitating almost instantly.

Riku was in the door way with a towel slung around his shoulders and another towel hanging dangerously loosely over his perfectly shaped hips (I apologize for my fan girly-ness). His silver hair, which had once seemed dorky and bizarre, now hung attractively around his face and fell two inches below the shoulder. And his body build was… nothing to hide that's for sure.

Once they'd gotten over their initial shock the seven people in the room all at once realized that Riku was only wearing a bath towel and their faces instantly reddened, especially seeing as the towel was just barely hanging there (this is where all the fan girls start chanting to get it to fall off).

"Mind getting out of my room so I can get dressed?" asked Riku playfully with one eyebrow arched up perfectly.

"Oh, um…" said Sora, clearly still in shock, "um, uh Riku?"

"Yes Sora?" asked Riku; clearly enjoying the awkwardness of this situation.

"You're really Riku?" asked Tidus, mouth hanging open slightly.

"Last time I checked I was," said Riku in an amused voice, then he noticed Namine and Roxas for the first time, "And you are?"

Namine's face reddened; she'd never talked to a guy who was completely naked with the exception of a towel before.

"Um, I'm Roxas and this is Namine," Roxas gestured to Namine; he was nervous and it was plain why. He'd once been one of the popular guys that had made fun of Riku back in elementary. But now Riku was a skyscraper compared to him.

"Nice to meet you," said Riku casually holding out his hand.

"Um, Riku?" asked Kairi, "Mind getting some clothes on before we begin the formal greetings?"

"Oh, good idea," said Riku laughing in a care free laid back tone.

With that the group left him in his room to get dressed. Riku sighed as he watched them go. He'd expected their reunion to be awkward yes, but this was… Well, for one thing he had expected his old friends to be just like him. Overflowing with popularity and exceedingly good-looking.

Not that Riku was conceited or anything it was just that he was hott and he knew it. Sora and the others though were a completely different story however. Riku had to admit he was surprised. He had always looked up to his friends but now… Well it looked like he was the only one turning out well.

Quickly and expertly he grabbed a tee shirt out of his suitcase along wit a pair of jeans. Once he'd stepped into these he grabbed a pair of gloves from the bag along with a handful of bracelets. To wrap it all up he pulled his hair back in a low, loose ponytail.

He gave himself a once-over in the mirror before turning the handle to his door and bracing himself for the embarrassing situation that lay ahead.

Everybody walked down the stairs in silence.

"I thought you guys said he was… um, dorky," said Namine in order to break the silence.

"Um, he _was,_" Wakka replied.

"Wow," said Namine, "talk about a change for a better…"

"Is it?" asked Kairi bitterly as she cast a glare at Namine who flinched at the harsh look. She hadn't meant to be insensitive.

"Did you see him?" asked Mrs. Ishida as she walked passed the group with stack of very full looking boxes and crates. The group nodded dumbly in response, "I know it's a bit of shock isn't it?" she asked sympathetically spotting the looks on their faces.

"What… What happened?" asked Selphie as she seated herself down at the table along with everyone else.

"I wish I could say," said Mrs. Ishida and she laughed a little, "it came pretty much out of nowhere… I'm still not sure about how it happened…"

"Well… This is gonna be awkward…" said Roxas.

"Hey."

Everyone turned to see Riku stomping down the stairs; silver ponytail swishing with every movement. The metal chain that around his waist made tiny clinking noises every time he made a sudden move.

"Hey, Riku," said Sora trying to seem cheerful but failing dismally.

"Hey," said Riku, "it's good to be back. So," he pulled up a chair and seated himself down at the table with the back of the chair between his legs, "you two," he pointed a finger at Roxas and Namine, "you must have moved here after the fifth grade, right?"

"Well, I did," said Namine quietly.

"But umm…" Roxas stood up and walked over to where Riku was sitting, "I went to the same school as you guys since first grade… Um, so you might remember… me…"

Riku got up and stood towering over Roxas like a pillar looking thoughtful, "Nope sorry, I don't think I…" His voice trailed off as realization dawned on him and his eyes widened. He stared at Roxas like he'd never seen anything quite like him.

Roxas cringed and braced himself for the punches he was sure would fall; now that Riku could get revenge there was nothing stopping him from beating Roxas to a pulp. But nothing came and slowly Roxas decided it was safe to open his eyes.

Riku was still in front of him but strangely enough he was grinning. And quite suddenly he burst out laughing. Grabbing Roxas by the top of his head with one hand Riku pulled Roxas foreword so that their foreheads were pressed together and their eyes were literally only centimeters apart. And Roxas felt like he was going to melt under the look those emerald eyes were giving him (and no this story is not a RoxasxRiku so you can stop with the perverted images people!).

"You know," said Riku casually (he seemed unfazed by how close their faces were), "this is really weird. I mean _really _weird."

"So, does this mean you remember me?" Roxas squeaked, he thought Riku was trying to get him to relax as some sort of clever ploy.

"Yup," said Riku grinning, _Maybe he's mistaken me for someone else, _thought Roxas, "You're one of the stupid preps that always teased me back in elementary school!"

_Oh… So he does remember that… But why is he still grinning?_

"Yeah, that was me," said Roxas putting particular emphasis on _was_.

"So that was you," said Riku clearly proud that he had remembered, "You know what this is called, Roxas?" Roxas shook his head (still highly perturbed by how close their faces were), "This is what you'd call _irony."_

Then with a shove of his hand Riku pushed Roxas back just lightly enough to send him stumbling backwards a few paces. Riku straightened up and laughed at the expression on Roxas's face.

"What?" asked Roxas in disbelief.

"What wrong with you?" asked Riku taking in the terrified expression on Roxas's face.

"Aren't you going to get revenge?" asked Roxas and when Riku continued to look blank he sighed and added, "You know, for all the terrible things I did to you before?"

"Oh that," said Riku laughing a little, "well the way I see it it's in the past and besides… If I were to beat you up that wouldn't exactly bode well for our friendship would it?" Riku laughed again when he saw Roxas's face, "What did you think I was going to rape you or something? Sorry, but I'm straight."

Roxas recovered from his shock and straightened up, "Sorry I just thought-

"You thought I'd take advantage of the fact that I'm a foot taller than you and beat you up," said Riku simply, "because that's what you'd do in my situation." Everyone in the room blinked at Riku; he seemed to have developed a knack for saying uncomfortable truths rather bluntly.

"Well," said Wakka trying to recover from that little incident, "should we show Riku around the town? It's been a while…"

"Sorry," said Riku as he leaned up against the wall, "but I gotta finish unpacking now. Maybe we could all get together later today?"

"Um okay," said Sora, "Oh, I know! Why don't we all have a sleep over at my house later? It'd be fun!"

"Sure," said Riku and everyone else in the room nodded their assent.

"Alright then, I guess we'll see you later!" said Sora, cheerful as ever.

"Yup, see ya' guys," said Riku giving them all a mock salute.

"Well," said Kairi as they walked down the street leaving Riku's home, "he's definetly changed. Probably more than all of us put together…"

"Yeah," said Tidus, "I mean did you notice when he was in the towel…?"

"Yup," said Selphie, "he's hott."

"And I'm pretty sure he knows it too," said Namine giggling slightly.

"Aw, c'mon guys," said Sora and he ran ahead and turned to face them all, "he's still the same old Riku on the inside! It was just a little awkward in there that's all! You'll see tonight at the sleep over! Everyhing'll be okay!"

"Um Sora about the sleep over…"

"What?"

"Don't you think you should have told your parents first?"

Sora dead panned and stared at his six friends blankly for a moment before:

"AAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!!" And with those parting words he ran off towards his house.

"Sora's never gonna change," said Wakka shaking his head sadly.

"Nope, he's not," Kairi smiled as she said this last part.

Riku stuffed some clothing into his black duffel bag for the sleep over hastily. He was feeling apprehensive (No _Giver _jokes please --).

As he left the house he said a quick good bye to his mom and dad before setting out for Sora's house. When he got there he stopped on the porch right outside the door. It had been a long time.

When Riku had moved he'd made himself a mental promise that he would start his life over. He was sick of being the class dork and wanted to change. When they'd first arrived at the house it had been the beginning of summer. This was good, it gave Riku plenty of time to _fix _himself as he put it.

He'd started working out (anything as long as he was still moving). Then half-way through the summer his dentist had announced the blessed news. He was getting his braces removed. He'd almost cried from happiness that day. After that he also started eating better. His parents had been in shock from his sudden change. Near the end of summer he had begged his parents to get contacts.

But it wasn't selfish/spoiled begging. No, Riku knew how to lay it on well. After all he'd had plenty of practice acting from coming home every day beaten up by bullies and yet somehow managing to convince his parents it was nothing. So Riku begged and pleaded so well that he turned it into an art form. He knew when to stop for one night and when to continue the next day; he knew when to start shouting and when to go with the silent treatment. Yup, he had developed a talent in acting.

A talent that he was going to need when school started.

When he'd first arrived at his new school he was average in height and okay in build. Luckily he'd already lost the glasses and braces though. The popular group had decided to give him a shot (just so that they could evaluate the new kid). From that point on Riku watched and learned.

He knew how to be the class-weirdo but he didn't know how to be and more importantly stay popular. So he watched the others for a while.

He had to admit it was his best performance yet. After he'd gotten the personality down he'd waited a while before laying it on. And then he let it show through gradually, so that it looked natural. And it worked.

Everyone thought that he'd been shy at first because he was the new kid and slowly as he grew used to the school he let out his real personality. At first the act had been hard. Riku wasn't the laid back care free type, but eventually he'd grown into it and soon the role came naturally. These days it wasn't even an act; it was his real personality now.

Riku hadn't realized how long he'd been standing outsides Sora's door reminiscing until suddenly the door opened up for him.

"Riku!"

Riku looked up, startled. There was Sora standing in the doorway looking at Riku standing on his porch.


	3. Author's Note

Author's Note: Okay people here's the deal… I haven't gotten too many reviews for this fic yet… And I'm pretty busy at school so I don't get much time to write more… So… Long story short…

**IF YOU WANT ME TO UPDATE FASTER YOU HAVE TO REVIEW MORE!**

Yeah… I'm busy right now… I don't have too much free time on my hands… The time I DO have to write I spend writing: "At Twelve O'clock". Why? Because it's popular and gets a lot of reviews! SO… I'm not saying this story won't get updated, but honestly the time I have needs to be spent towards stories that people actually want to get updated.

That's all! Thanks for listening! Except for those of you who went,

"Aw, shit, it's just an Author's review…"

Well sorry…

And I also apologize to Liz Hollow for taking so long! --

I got sick and I couldn't post this… Sorry…

bliss


	4. Reasons for Change

Riku looked up, startled. There was Sora standing in the doorway looking at Riku standing on his porch.

"Uh, Riku? What are you doing?"

"Oh sorry, Sora… I guess I just spaced out for a while…" he laughed nervously.

"Since when have you been the spacey type?" asked an amused Sora.

_Since I went to a new school… _"I was just thinking about all the times I came here before I moved," said Riku, it was partially true.

"Oh, yeah…" Sora smiled, it really was the same old Riku, "Well, come in!" He grabbed Riku's wrist and pulled him in cheerfully.

In the front hall of Sora's home Riku looked over and saw the same mirror that had been hanging there since the first time Riku came over. Looking in it now Riku realized that one of the best moves Riku had made when he moved had been to let his hair grow out.

"How long were you standing out there?" asked Sora as he and Riku walked into the living room where everybody else was.

"What do you mean?" asked Kairi.

"When I opened the door to see if he was coming he was already standing outside it," said Sora giving his friend a weird look.

"I was just spacing out," said Riku defensively.

"For how long?" asked Tidus with raised eyebrows.

"Um, well… What time is it now?" asked Riku.

"You're fifteen minutes late," said Selphie.

"Well, probably about fifteen minutes then…"

Everybody eyed Riku strangely as he sat down on the floor next to them all and began unrolling his navy blue sleeping bag. Selphie was taking in his ponytail. Kairi was staring at his loose and yet not loose black tee-shirt. Tidus was staring at his gloves and bracelets. Wakka was staring at the rips in his jeans. And Sora was oblivious.

"So," said Riku snapping everybody out of their trances, "what's first?" he looked around at everybody for an answer.

"Oh, well we thought we'd watch a movie," said Kairi nodding her head in the direction of Sora's wide flat screen T.V.

"New T.V?" asked Riku with both eyebrows arched in surprise.

"Well, new to you," said Sora, "So what should we watch?"

"Anything's fine with me," said Riku leaning back casually; propped up on his elbows.

"Alright then," said Selphie, "how about… High School Musical?"

Everyone in the room gagged and started shouting protests at Selphie, who looked around innocently.

"What?" she asked.

"Selphie, do you actually like that movie?" asked Riku.

"Well, yeah… why not?" she looked around blankly.

"Uh, okay, any other suggestions?" asked Tidus looking around.

"Um, how about Princess Diaries?" asked Kairi sweetly.

All the boys made faces.

"What about the new X-men movie?" asked Tidus.

"No!" shouted Kairi and Selphie in unison.

"Oh, wow you're in synch," said Riku laughing lightly.

"Alright, alright then…" Wakka looked thoughtful, "Why not… that new blitzball movie?"

"Ugh, no," said Selphie, "Jeez, Wakka is that all you think about? Blitzball?"

"Oh, c'mon guys," said Sora, "we have to be able to agree on something! What about The Lion King?" The entire room dead panned.

"Men in Black?" asked Roxas hopefully.

"Ugh, crappy animation," said Riku.

"Harry Potter?" asked a wide-eyed Namine.

"Everyone's seen Harry Potter," said Riku, "Hmmm… What about Scary Movie 4?" There was silence in the room, "What?" asked Riku. _Oh great… _thought Riku, _I bet they haven't seen any of them. This is gonna be awkward… Brace yourself Riku…_

"Um, Riku, have you actually seen all those movies?" asked Kairi.

"Yeah," said Riku casually; he was trying to lighten the mood.

"And when did you see them?" asked Tidus.

_Oh boy, they are not going to like my answer…_

"Um at a party?" Riku laughed nervously.

"Why don't we just watch She's the Man?" asked Sora, everyone turned to look at him and shrugged.

"Okay," said Riku; playing along with Sora's attempt to change the subject. He did not like situations like this. This awkwardness was just too much…

"I'll go to the video rental store to get it then," said Sora then he looked at Riku, "wanna come with me?"

"Sure," said Riku and he got up to leave; anything to get away from the tenseness in that room.

When Sora's back was turned to Riku as he put his shoes on Sora's smile faltered for the first time since Riku had arrived. When Riku had made his movie suggestion Sora had finally realized it. Riku was different. He'd changed and left the rest of them behind…

"Where's the rental store?" asked Riku when they got out of the house.

"Oh, it's this way," said Sora as he began to lead Riku down the street towards the town's local Blockbuster. The two walked in silence for a while; neither one wanting to start a conversation. It was definetly awkward. _Very _awkward. Riku did not like awkward. Neither did Sora.

"So," said Riku trying to think of something to say, "so… Um… Is that ice cream shop still there?"

"What ice cream shop?" asked Sora turning to look at Riku blankly.

"You know the one on Fifth Street? Where the six of us always used to hang out after school?"

"Oh, I remember," said Sora he brightened up a little, "yeah, they sold out…" his smile faded.

"Sold out?" asked Riku in disbelief, "But why? Everybody went there! They were making plenty of money."

"Yeah, I know it's weird isn't it?" asked Sora nodding vigorously.

"Well that sucks…" said Riku his voice drifting off, leaving the heavy silence behind.

After two more minutes of silence they reached Blockbuster. But when they opened the front doors and walked in Sora stopped and turned to look at Riku with a questioning look on his face.

"What?" asked Riku nervously; Sora looked troubled. There was a dramatic pause and then…

"What movie were we supposed to rent again?"

Riku dead panned and stared at Sora in disbelief.

"Well?"

"You… really don't remember?" asked Riku staring at Sora in disbelief.

"Nope," said Sora dreamily as he began to space out again.

"And you guys thought I changed?"

Sora whirled around to stare at Riku with wide eyes, "What did you say?" he asked.

"Oh, c'mon Sora," said Riku lightly upon spotting the hurt look on his face, "I was just…"

He sighed and let his hands fall to his sides. He really didn't know what to say, because now Sora's eyes were welling up with tears. Riku put a hand on Sora's shoulder awkwardly. It had been a while since Riku had needed to comfort anybody who was crying. For the past two years Riku had surrounded himself with laughing people. So crying hadn't been much of an issue. But now… He had no clue what to do or say…

"Um… Sora?" Riku asked.

"Wh- what?" asked Sora as he sniffed loudly.

"Are you…? Okay?"

Sora looked up at Riku taking in his pained expression.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" asked Riku staring at Sora in confusion.

"For us… Because we're so stupid…"

"Wha? Stupid? Sora what're you-

"I know… that we're just getting in your way… You probably hate us now…" Sora continued to mumble about how much Riku must hate them all. Riku looked at Sora in total confusion.

"What? Sora, how could I hate you guys? You're my best friends!"

Sora's head jerked up in surprise, "But… You're… And we're… just… You don't hate us? Why not?" Riku looked at him like he was a moron.

"Sora, how could I hate you all? After all those times you stuck up for me?"

"But now you're all… popular… and we're all… not…"

"Pfft!"

Sora looked up again. Riku was holding a hand over his mouth and he looked like he was trying to hold back a fit of laughter. Sora continued to stare at Riku blankly. Finally Riku threw his head back and let out a chorus of laughter. Eventually Sora realized how stupid his statement had sounded too and even joined in the laughing.

"Really, Sora," said Riku wiping tears out of his eyes between laughs, "that's gotta be the stupidest thing you've ever said."

Sora nodded as he too wiped tears from his face, "Yeah, sorry… That was really dumb…"

"Hey!"

The two boys turned to stare at the clerk behind the desk.

"Are you two gays going to stand there all day or what? Cause we're closing soon!" he sneered.

"Uh, sorry," muttered Riku, "sorry…"  
He walked through the shelves and located the movie quickly.

After they'd gotten the movie they walked back to Sora's house in silence.

Sora stopped walking and turned to face Riku.

"Riku?"

"What?"

"Well… why did you change?"

"Huh?"

"I mean… all of this," he said gesturing at Riku's outfit and his hair, "Why'd you do it? Why'd you change so much?"

"I guess I… I don't really know… I guess I was just tired of having other people stick up for me… and of being the class geek…"

Sora nodded sympathetically, "Is that all?"  
"What do you mean is that all?" Riku snapped.

"That's your only reason?" Sora prompted.

"It's a damn good reason if you ask me," said Riku bitterly.

"Well no offense Riku but, Selphie, Tidus, Wakka, Kairi and I are the class losers now and it's not that bad," said Sora sadly.

Something inside of Riku snapped.

"That's because you have each other! I was all by myself! Sure you guys stood up for me! And comforted me! But you didn't really understand what I was going through! Whenever they picked on me I was their target! With you guys their attention's spread out! It's not as bad! It-

"Okay! Okay!" said Sora shaking Riku by the shoulder a little, "I get it! You had it worse than us… Still…"

"Still what?" asked Riku numbly.

"I don't know Riku," said Sora throwing up his arms in exasperation.

"Sorry… for yelling like that… I normally wouldn't…"

"It's okay," said Sora quickly. The two teens continued to walk on in silence for a while. But Riku had something else to add.

"And Sora?"

"Yes, Riku?"

"That's not all…"

"What do you mean Riku?" Sora turned to look at his long time friend.

"I also wanted a change because… well because I felt like I'd be letting you guys down if I didn't. I wanted to be someone you guys wouldn't have to look after all the time. You know? Be a little more independent and self-sufficient… I don't know, it's stupid I guess," said Riku turning to look at the ground.

"No it's not," said Sora and Riku turned to stare at him, "I get it! You didn't want to let us down!"

"Yeah," said Riku smiling sadly, "I just wanted to be someone people could be… proud of…? Oh, hell, it sounds so stupid now!" He let out a frustrated groan and turned to look at Sora again.

"Looks like we were the ones who ended up letting you down," said Sora smiling faintly.

"Sora, I-

"Oh, come on! You know it's true!" said Sora.

Riku sighed and blew some hair out of his face, "Well…" he said and slowly his face brightened, "I guess now this is my chance to return the favor!" Sora looked up at him in a startled manner.

"What?"

"Yeah," said Riku who seemed to be making up his mind even as he spoke, "Yeah," he turned to look at Sora and smiled, "don't worry, Sora! I get to look out for all of you now!"

Sora smiled and nodded, "Yup!" then his face grew serious again, "But you better do a good job Riku! You wouldn't want anything to happen to us! You know how delicate we are!"

"Roger, sir," said Riku cheerfully.

CFG: Ha ha ha… I'm so sorry for even thinking about not continueing! Your reactions to my author's note were so funny! I'm sorry! Well… You've convinced me! This story is going to be finished peeps and that's that! It might take me a while to get chapters out because like I said At Twelve O'Clock is in my personal opinion better and more popular than this one. But I will try to devote as much attention to this as I can!

Thanx for Listening!

BYE!!!

bliss


	5. Disputes over Parties

The two friends laughed before continueing to make their way back to Sora's house. When they got there Riku stopped outside the door and stared at Sora.

"Well?"

"Well, what?" asked Sora staring at Riku blankly.

"Aren't you going to open the door? With the keys?"

Sora stared at Riku for a full minute.

"Aggh!!!"

"Dude, what the heck?!"

"I forgot the keys!" cried Sora, he flung himself at the door and began pulling on the knob relentlessly, "Oh no!" he cried, "Ohnoohnoohnoonhnoohnonononononono… Riku we're locked out!" he turned to face his silver haired friend with tears in his eyes. Riku stared at the chocolate haired boy wondering how Sora had survived all these years without him. Sora continued to look panicked. Riku sighed and walked over too where Sora was standing in front of the door.

"So ring the door bell, moron," said Riku as he pushed the small button.

"Oh…" said Sora calming down immediately, "Oh yeah…"

"Hello?" Kairi said as she opened the door, then she realized who was standing outside.

"Oh my gosh! Sora! Riku! What happened and…" Kairi stared at Sora strangely, "Were you crying?" Sora flushed and Riku rolled his eyes before explaining what had happened. Trying to spare Sora some of his manly pride.

"Wonder boy here, threw a little tantrum because he stupidly forgot the keys to his own home."

So much for salving Sora's manly pride.

Sora shot Riku a glare and smacked Riku on the head.

"I did not throw a tantrum!" he cried in a whiny voice. Riku and Kairi eyed him for a moment before they simultaneously burst out laughing. Riku pushed past Sora and walked into the living room along with Kairi, both of whom were still laughing their heads off. Everybody in the room gave the trio weird looks.

"What happened to you guys?" asked Roxas, he turned to look at Sora and his eyes widened, "Have you been crying?"

Sora's frown deepened as Riku and Kairi doubled over laughing so hard they collapsed on the floor. The five other people in the room stared blankly.

"It's a long story," said Riku as he popped the DVD into the player that rested under Sora's plasma.

"Whatever," said Tidus as he eyed Kairi wiping tears from her eyes.

Everyone settled down to watch the movie.

It had only been going for about twenty minutes when Sora's family came in. Sora had a big family; mom, dad, two younger siblings and one older sibling. Dylan was Sora's older brother; he was in his senior year at high school. Kalinda (girl) and Roland (boy) were both younger than Sora. Kalinda was in third grade and Roland was in sixth.

"Sora, honey!" called his mother, "We picked up the pizza for your big sleep over!" The group of five walked into the living room and instantly spotted all eight teens seated on their individual sleeping bags, eyes glued to the movie that was playing on the TV. Sora's mom spotted Riku immediately and frowned. _Since when had Sora hung out with people like this? _She wondered.

"Hello," said Sora vaguely, just to let his parents know that he acknowledged their presence.

"Uh, Sora who's this?" asked his mom. At once all the kids turned to look at Riku whose eyes had widened to the size of saucers, "I thought you said it was a sleep over to welcome Riku home…"

"Yeah it is…" said Sora and all the teens lying on the floor grinned at the situation and Roxas paused the movie.

"Well, why isn't Riku here?" asked his dad and once again he turned his attention to Riku, "I'm sorry, who did you say you were?"

"Um… I didn't… say…" said Riku quietly and once again all eight friends smirked a little despite themselves.

"Ummm… Well… " said Sora wondering how to say this without a) thoroughly embarrassing Riku, b) making a fool of himself in front of Kairi, or c) freaking his parents out. Sora decided it was best to freak his parents out. After all they were his parents, they cared about him no matter what. On the other hand his friendship with Riku was… shaky to say the least and Kairi… He had to impress her. So Sora decided to answer bluntly, "Uh, mom? Dad? That **is **Riku."

"Um, hello Mr. and Mrs. Harada," said Riku giving Sora's family a little wave nervously, "It's good to see you again," he added for good measure.

Dylan raised his eyebrows. He was impressed, you could tell. Dylan might not be the brightest of the bunch but he prided himself on good physique and surfing. It was hard to tell from the position Riku was sitting in but it seemed like he might be taller than Dylan. _Whoa… _thought Dylan, _He's in good shape. Definetly a total three-sixty… Maybe I could get him to hang out with me and my friends sometime. Ditch Sora… _

Roland was pretty much oblivious to it all. What did he care if one of his brother's best friends looked like he'd gone to _Extreme Makeover_?

Kalinda cared though. She'd always looked up to Riku; it was an ongoing joke between Sora and Riku. Riku would tease Sora because his younger sister liked Riku better and Sora would tease Riku with the "nickname" Kalinda had given to him.

"Riri!" she cried running forward and proceeding without hesitation to jump on top of Riku. Poor Riku…

Kalinda was too young to notice a change in Riku's appearance.

Riku of course, being the awesome guy that he is, played along. He was used to Kalinda doing this to him. Except now he was stronger, which was a good thing cause Kalinda was a lot heavier. Riku pretended to collapse under her and even gave a muffled groan just for show.

This of course sent Kalinda into a fit of giggles. And she proceeded to jump on Riku a few times just to make him give more fake moans of agony.

After a while, Riku rolled over onto his back and held up his hands in defeat.

"Please stop! I can't take it any more! Oh the pain!" he gave a mighty cry before falling limp and silent. Kalinda did a victory dance over his crumpled body. Namine, Kairi and Selphie giggled as they watched Riku lie there pretending to be dead.

"He's good with kids," said Namine.

"That's because Kalinda always used to do that to him," said Selphie as the three girls watched Riku roll over to face Kalinda.

"I live!" he cried and with that he picked up Kalinda and tossed her a few times. This of course was a new stunt considering Riku had never been in good enough shape to pull it off before. But now Riku could throw her and catch her effortlessly; as if she were a foot ball.

This new game of course, only caused Kalinda greater pleasure and she laughed so hard that when Riku finally put her down she collapsed on the floor giggling.

"I think you've killed her, Riku," said Mrs. Harada as she bent to help her daughter up, when she finally straightened up with her daughter in her arms she smiled at Riku and said, "it's good to see you again Riku. Sorry I didn't recognize you! You're growing up so fast!" Riku smiled as he propped himself up on his elbows.

"S'okay, Mrs. Harada," he said good-naturedly.

"Well, we'll leave the pizza on the dining room table," said Mr. Harada looking around at all the kids, "you all have fun."

"Hey, Sora," said Dylan walking up to the group in order to ruffle Sora's hair affectionately, "What movie are you guys watching?"

"She's the Man," said Sora simply as he ran his hand through his hair where Dylan had fluffed it. Dylan nodded.

"Hey Riku, haven't seen you in a while," he said turning his attention to Riku. He and Riku pounded fists (they made it look so easy… it's not… my friend and I always miss… One time I even knocked the sandwich she was holding into the gutter… **--**).

"What grade are you in now?" asked Riku from his spot on the carpet.

"Senior year of High School," said Dylan.

"So… are you trying to tell me you've made it five years without getting held back or flunking out of school?" asked Riku sardonically with one eye brow raised.

"Har," said Dylan dryly. He and Riku then smirked at each other for a second.

"Shall we restart the movie?" asked Selphie from across the room, she and the others had been watching the conversation and felt very left out.

"Alright, well see ya," said Dylan with his "surfer dude" attitude, "oh, wait… Hey Riku?" Roxas stopped just as he was about to press play and seven heads turned to watch the two teens.

"What?" asked Riku.

"You wanna hang out with me and some of my friends some time?"

The other seven people in the room had faces like: O.o. Riku however remained calm.

"Sure," said Riku, "When?"

"Well, there's gonna be a party at Meg's house this weekend at 8:00 on Saturday. Can you make it?"

"Yeah, I think I'll be there." Sora and the others' faces went from O.o to O.O.

"Cool," said Dylan before he left the room. As soon as he was out of earshot all seven friends turned to stare at Riku; faces still frozen.

"You shouldn't make faces like that," said Riku matter-of-factly, "it doesn't look good and besides someday your faces will freeze like that."

"Riku."

"Yeah?"

"Dylan's a _senior_."

"So?"

"The party is for _seniors_."

"There are always younger people there just like there are older people. It doesn't matter Sora so drop it."

"But Riku… It's a senior party!"

"Not you too Roxas…"

"They're both right, Riku!"

"Okay, will you all just _let it go_? Please?"

"But it's for seniors!"

"Like I said it's no big deal! I've been to plenty of parties hosted by seniors and it doesn't matter if you're younger! Now would you please just let it go?!" Riku snapped and everyone fell silent.

Roxas pushed the play button and the movie resumed. Everyone got up to go get some pizza.

They watched in silence for a while until they got to the part where the main character (I forgot her name, sorry) makes her "transformation" into a boy.

"Who would fall for that?" asked Selphie.

"I know!" cried Sora.

"They did a terrible job," said Namine.

"Yeah," agreed Riku.

Finally they got to one of those sweet, romantic boy kisses girl moments.

"Hey Riku…"

"Yeah?" Riku turned to look at Sora.

"Do you have a girl friend?"

Everybody spun around to stare at Riku who was keeping his face determinedly expressionless.

_Oh boy… How do I answer that? Truth or lie? Tough one… Well they won't like the truth but I don't think they'd believe me if I lied anyway so…_

"Yes, well _had _anyway," he said ignoring their stunned expressions.

"Really?"

"Uh-huh."

"For real?"

"Uh-huh."

"How many?"

_Ouch… They're not gonna be happy with this…_

"Two."

"What?!"

"Yeah…" Nervous laugh.

"And you broke up with both of them right?"

"Well," he took a deep breath before launching into explanation mode, "the first one's name was Resa and I broke up with her because… Well it's complicated. Anyway the second girl's name was Mia and she broke up with me."

"Really? You got dumped?" asked Sora as if his life long dream was to be dumped. Riku looked at Sora agitatedly.

"Yes, Sora, my God don't have a heart attack," he paused, "you act like it's fun getting _'let go_', as she put it."

"I'm sorry," said Namine.

"For what?" asked Riku looking at her in surprise.

"It hurts when someone leaves you," said Namine putting a comforting hand on Riku's shoulder.

"And you would know this how?"

"Roxas and I went out for a while."

"What?" asked Riku wildly.

"Yeah," said Roxas sounding very tired all of sudden, "it didn't work out…"

"Why not?" asked Riku looking between the two.

"I don't know… It was just too weird. Roxas is like my brother," said Namine, she looked a little uncomfortable at the topic.

"Yeah, it's like that," said Roxas shiftily.

"Oh, okay," said Riku not wanting to press the matter; he'd noticed the look on Namine's face and figured it was best not to go into detail.

"So why did Mia break up with you?" asked Selphie (she likes big gossip sessions). Total gossip girl.

"Well actually," Riku began, "she broke up with me because I was moving and she didn't want to go through the hassle of keeping a relationship with the distance… I offered to go see her every weekend but… I don't know I guess she was probably going to end it anyway… she'd been acting a little distant lately."

He looked at the floor and twiddled his thumbs a little.

Namine placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and to everyone's' surprise Riku leaned into her hand until his head was resting on her shoulder. Namine looked a little taken aback but pleased all the same (That's right! This is a Namiku story! Yay!).

Slowly the rest of the kids returned their attention to the movie which was nearing its finale. When the credits started rolling Riku still hadn't removed his head from Namine's shoulder and his back was rising in slow steady motions.

"Is he asleep?" asked Tidus tilting his head to get a peek at Riku's eyes from under a curtain of silver.

"Uh, I can't tell from here," murmured Namine quietly in an effort to not wake Riku incase he was asleep.

Finally Kairi bent her head and tilted it upwards to stare at Riku's face. His eyes were closed and his expression was peaceful. His silky smooth, silver hair drifted around his face breezily.

"He _is_," said Kairi in awe.

Sora sighed and sat back, folding his arms behind his head, "Man, what a change… He used to be so insecure and nervous… And he looks so different… It's like he's a different person but," Sora looked up at all of them, "he had his reasons for wanting to make a change."

"And what makes you say that?" asked Roxas.

"He told so me while we were renting the video," said Sora smugly.

"Really? What did he say?" asked Kairi eagerly, leaning forward on her sleeping bag eagerly.

"He was tired of being the class geek," said Sora simply, "and he said he didn't want to let us down."

"Huh?"

"He told me that he felt like if he didn't change he'd just be burdening us forever so he didn't want to let us down," said Sora. Everyone stared at him.

"What?" asked Sora blankly.

"You actually just made sense," said Selphie with wide eyes.

"Well. I was trying to explain…" Sora muttered nervously.

"Sora, you used a big word!" cried Kairi. Tidus's mouth was hanging open.

"Shh," hushed Namine putting a finger to her lip, she jerked her head at the still sleeping Riku.

"Oh, right, I gotcha mon," said Waka settling down a little.

"So, did he really say that, Sora?" asked Tidus bringing his voice back down to a whisper.

"Well," said Selphie, "while he's asleep we might as well take advantage of his iron sleep capabilities and discuss this…"

"Discuss what?" asked Roxas.

"This," said Selphie waving her hand around airily in Riku's direction.

"Right," said Tidus folding his arms and nodding.

"Well…" began Kairi slowly, "What do you think?"

"How's he going to fit in with us?" asked Roxas, "He's from a completely different social class now."

"Don't say things like that," said Sora quietly, "it's depressing…"

"Look, there's no point in denying the truth," said Tidus stubbornly.

"Well…" said Kairi, "I personally don't know how I can act normal around him… he's just so…"

"Hott? Irresistible? Sexy?" offered Selphie. All the girl's faces turned crimson.

"Hm… But he's still a nice guy," protested Namine, "even if his looks and personality are different he's still nice!"

"Well yeah but… It's just so weird seeing him like this, ya," said Wakka with raised eyebrows, "we might as well be calling him a different name altogether."

"But you can still be friends," insisted Namine.

"Oh yeah? Name one thing we still have in common with him," Tidus prodded.

"Well…" Namine said softly, "You guys all still have the same memories… of each other and stuff… You know… Um, you all have the same fond memories from when you were younger. When you guys were all still friends."

Kairi nodded sagely, "You're right."

Everyone seemed to agree with this statement as a whole. But nobody noticed the fact that Riku's eyes were open and that he had been listening in the whole time.

_So, _he mused, _it looks like this just might work out after all… I think we can still get along… Thank you Namine! I owe you one!_

**Author's Note: **So was that ending fluffy enough or what? -- Oh and peoples… Please review. It's really not THAT hard… And it makes me write faster! So come on! Click the little button… Go on.

bliss


End file.
